Lenovo CEO Aims For Top Smartphone Spot In China

Lenovo Group CEO Yang Yuanqing says the Chinese computer and electronics maker aims to become the No. 1 smartphone vendor in China this year, moving ahead of Samsung and keeping Apple (AAPL) in third place.

"Innovation, strong distribution channels and effective operations have been the key factors that help Lenovo smartphones stand out," Yang told China Daily. "Lenovo does not want to be the second player. ... We want to be the best. Lenovo has the confidence to outperform Samsung and Apple, at least in the Chinese market."

Chinese tech tracker Analysys International said in a recent report that Samsung sold 7.53 million smartphones in China in Q3 to claim the top spot. Lenovo sold 6.96 million. Apple was in third place with 2.08 million phones sold, but it didn't start selling its new iPhone 5 there until December, and the company said sales there got off to a fast start.

Apple and Samsung, the No. 1 maker of smartphones based on Google's (GOOG) open-source Android operating system, have been battling in many markets and in many courtrooms, where they've waged patent-infringement litigation.

Analysys said Samsung had 15.3% of the China market as of the end of Q3 to Lenovo's 14.1% and Apple's 4.24%. But Analysys says Lenovo's share is up from just 4.8% a year earlier.

The figures don't cover sales in China's gray market, where smartphones are unofficially brought in from overseas and sold locally.

Lenovo launched its first smartphone, the Le-Phone, in China five years ago. It introduced 46 smartphone models, in various price ranges, in China last year. Yang says Lenovo has invested more than $793 million in a smartphone manufacturing center in Wuhan, in China's Hubei province. He says it can churn out 30 million to 40 million smartphones a year, ensuring a steady supply of phones for local and overseas markets. Lenovo also maintains large numbers of local sales outlets in China that reach into rural areas.

Apple sells its smartphones in China through Apple stores in Chinese cities. Samsung sells its phones through electronics chain stores.

Lenovo edged out Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to become the world's No. 1 PC maker in Q3, according to data issued in October by researcher Gartner. Lenovo bought IBM 's (IBM) PC division in 2005 in a $1.25 billion deal.

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